Chapter 2
chapter
two
Jude
Fuck me, but she smells good. Even dripping with rain, she’s the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. And possibly the sassiest which is saying something, considering my three sisters are all brats.
I drive toward town to the bookstore to pick up my middle sister, Sofia from her book club.
“You’re not staying in a hotel or with a friend?” I ask.
“I don’t actually know anyone here. Lola, Rosie, and I just travel around and find cool places to stay.”
“Who?”
“Rosie,” she says, pointing to the dog in her lap. “Lola,” she tosses her thumb over her shoulder.
“The van? You named your van Lola?” I ask.
“I did. I’m sure you have an opinion about that, but I don’t need to hear it,” she snaps.
Whoa, this girl’s got so much fire in her. The sharpness of her words are in direct contradiction to her sweet accent. I’m thinking either Alabama or Georgia.
“And you are?”
“Emory.”
I cross my left hand over my body reaching towards her. “Jude.”
Her fingers are cold when she puts her hand in mine. When my much bigger hand closes over hers for a shake, it’s like a jolt of electricity spikes up my arm.
She gasps so I’m guessing she felt it too. Weird. Probably just a charge in the air from the storm. Though there hasn’t been any lightning or thunder.
“So you just randomly drove into Saddle Creek with no plan?”
“I did.”
“From where?”
“I was in Ft. Worth yesterday.”
“No, where are you originally from?”
“Small town in Georgia.”
“I was thinking that or Alabama,” I say.
“Stupid accent,” she mumbles.
I chuckle.
“Laugh it up, pretty boy,” she snaps.
Damned if I don’t want to get close enough to that fire to feel her heat. So I say more to see if I can continue to rattle her cage.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit foolish to be out late at night in a new place? I mean you’re all alone.”
“I’m not all alone,” she snaps. “But wow, thanks for your vote of confidence.”
“All I’m saying is that a single woman should not be driving around in the middle of the night in a strange town. Alone.”
“Okay, Grandpa,” she says. “Since when is nine-thirty in the middle of the night?”
I ignore her question and proceed. “Your dog would not be able to protect you.”
“I can protect myself, thank you very much. I’ve been on my own for far longer than you’d imagine. I know how to be safe.”
Every protective instinct in me is on alert. I want to pull her into my lap and tell her that I’ll do it. I’ll volunteer as tribute to take care of her and make sure she’s always safe. But that’s not my fucking job nor do I need one more damn woman to take care of. For fuck’s sake.
Instead, I pull the truck up in front of the bookstore.
Sofia, my middle sister, runs out and opens the truck door, then stops short when she sees Emory.
“Hello,” my sister says. “Mind scooting over so I can get out of the rain. Sucks breaking down in this weather, huh?”
Emory scoots across the bench seat until her body is pressed against mine, shoulder to hip. My dick twitches in my jeans. Well, this should be fun; getting a fucking hard-on with my sister in the truck. And who gets a damn erection from a woman barely touching them? This is not a sexy situation. Her clothes are drenched.
While Sofia climbs in and buckles her seatbelt, I reach behind me and find one of the towels I keep handy.
“Here,” I say.
“Thank you.”
“Who’s this little guy?” Sofia coos.
“This is Rosie the Retriever,” she says.
“That tiny ball of fluff is no retriever,” I say.
“No, it’s a homage to Rosie the Riveter,” she says. “Sheesh, are you always this charming?”
Sofia laughs. “She has your number, big brother.”
“You’re grounded,” I reply.
“Nice try, but I’m over eighteen, remember.”
“Still live under my roof.”
“Whatever. Save your grounding nonsense for Juliette. Aria and I have grown up, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Juliette would say she’s grown up too,” I say.
“She wouldn’t be wrong. She’ll be eighteen in a few months.”
“You have three sisters?” Emory asks.
“Unfortunately.” I drive in silence for a few beats, tapping my thumbs on the steering wheel. “You really don’t even have a reservation at one of the campsites?” I ask.
“No, I do not,” Emory says in that sassy, clipped tone of hers. “Normally I don’t need one. They usually have room at them, unless it’s a major holiday or something. But seeing as we just finished the holidays, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Except for all the snowbirds,” Sofia says.
Shit, I hadn’t even thought of that. “Call the sites and see what we’re dealing with, Sof.”
“Can’t she plug her van into your big ass plug in your revival tent?”
“It’s a barn, for the last fucking time. I swear you girls are gonna put me in an early grave.”
“Doesn’t look like a barn.” She turns to Emory. “It’s this weird metal structure, opened on two sides and well, it’s just weird looking.”
I drive in silence toward my house because my sister is right. And even if there is a spot, there’s no reason to drop her off tonight while her tire is all jacked up. She can be close by so I can fix her van and then she can be on her way.
After calling three different places and texting about the rental cabins in town, Sofia sighs. “No room at the inn, I’m afraid. You’ll just have to come home with us. Doesn’t that sound so nice, Ms. Rosie?” she baby talks to the dog.
“Oh, I don’t want to intrude. I just need a power source to fire up Lola,” Emory says.
“You can do that on my land. I have an open garage awning where I work on cars outside of the blazing Texas sun. And I used to have a little camper I plugged in out there. Got rid of it a while back, but the power source is still available.”
“Wait!” Sofia yells.
“Christ, Sof, don’t yell like that when I’m driving.”
“You really are a grandpa,” my sister says. “You said Lola and Rosie. Which means you’re Emory from BeyondEmoryBoards! OMG! My sisters and I love you. They’re gonna flip.”